"Tell me, how did it go?" Kory squealed.
Her roommate shrugged, although a faint pink color tinged her pale cheeks. "It was fine."
"Rachel, you must know that is not nearly enough to satisfy me. Where did you go? What did you do? Did he say anything interesting? Did he kiss you?" Kory plopped onto her bed, and then gasped. "Did he write a poem for you?"
"No!" Rachel answered, giving Kory a disappointed look. "We don't write that kind of poetry. It's not all mush and romance. There are other things in life worth putting in a poem."
"Of course," Kory replied, although she could not think of what that could be. She felt that she was supposed to know, though, possibly because Rachel had performed a poem the day before that likely covered one of those "other things". "There are other questions you have left unanswered, however. And unfortunately for you, this is not one of the instances in which I will do the 'letting go' of the topic so that you may silently read."
Rachel sighed. "We went to a tapas place on the other side of town. That's it. Really." Kory waited patiently. "No, he didn't kiss me."
"My apologies, friend. Perhaps next time. But most importantly, did you enjoy yourself?"
"Yes," Rachel said quietly, a ghost of a smile flickering onto her face.
Kory forced herself to be content with that, and turned to her reading for one of her classes. For a while no more noise was heard. Much to Rachel's disappointment, however, Gar soon took care of that.
"Hey guys! Hey Rachel, how'd your date go?"
"Fine," the purple-haired girl muttered, not even glancing up. She therefore missed the slightly less than cheerful expression on Gar's face, but Kory did not.
"And yours, Gar?"
He returned to his residence on Rachel's desk chair, struggling to find words. "It was really great, for the most part. She's really funny and smart-and beautiful, you know. Like, sometimes I still can't believe she would go out with someone like me." Kory readily disagreed with his statement, her emphatic praises drowning out Rachel's sarcastic comment. "No, seriously. But then she gets really angry sometimes. Like for no reason."
"What do you mean?"
"So I asked her what she wanted to do when she graduated, and she said she didn't know. So I was like 'Well, you're really good with animals, right?' But then she got really upset, and she yelled 'Just leave it alone!' for the whole restaurant to hear. I got really surprised and just changed the topic. Then she was fine. But afterwards, in the parking lot, some guy almost ran into her with his skateboard, so he stopped and apologized and she shoved him. I don't even know why, she didn't say anything, just shoved him. It just didn't make any sense."
Kory and Rachel began offering up explanations. "Maybe her future is a touchy subject. Maybe her family pressures her." "Maybe she knows that guy and doesn't like him." "Maybe she had a bad day." Gar waved them off.
"Yeah, I guess. It's been sticking in my mind though. I shouldn't let it. Everything else was great. She asked if we could go out again next week, so there's that." He shook his head. "Whatever. It's probably nothing."
"I am absolutely sure it is nothing," Kory agreed warmly. "Tell us about the good moments."
Gar gave a painfully long account of his "best" jokes and exactly how much Terra had laughed at them, which Rachel groaned through. Then he ranted for a while about how difficult it was to get any good vegetarian options anywhere, and delivered an impressive monologue on the virtue of licking your fingers after eating, which Terra apparently found endearing.
"Gar," Rachel interrupted finally. "I'm going to go to sleep."
"Is it already your bedtime, Rae?"
"Go home."
"Ugh! But my roommate is so weird!"
"At least you have that in common."
Gar rolled his eyes. "Okay. I'll see you guys. Girl talk was fun, let's do it again some time!"
"Are you ever going to tell me what Dick was doing here?" Rachel asked after Gar left.
Kory shifted uncomfortably. "Did you not say that you wished to sleep?"
"Kory."
"He was merely doing the 'checking in' on me after the...incident...today."
Rachel frowned. "You told me you were fine."
"And I am! I informed him as much. Then I invited him to stay for dinner."
Rachel smirked, now familiar with Tamaranian cuisine. "How'd that go?"
"He did not seem very hungry."
"Hmm. Maybe next time." Then she caught herself. "Don't let there be a next time, Kory. Don't do this to yourself. I've seen it happen all the time. He's charmed the pants off so many girls I'm surprised there are any left. I'm not trying to be your mom, I'm just telling you, no matter what it looks like, it's not real. I think it's seriously a pathological condition with him. You deserve so much better."
Kory hung her head in shame. "You are right, I know. Yet, it is like the chocolate-covered zorkleberry addiction I cannot get rid of. I know it is bad for me, and yet...he is just..." She steeled her mind against daydreams of him.
Her friend looked disgusted. "I can't believe he's doing this to you. He should know better. That-" She spewed a few choice words until Kory begged her to stop. "I mean it, Kory. He's an asshole for the most part, but this is a new low. I hope he-"
Kory did not hear what Rachel's ambitions for Richard were, as Koma texted her right that moment.
Dick's coming over to my place. You need to go out and buy me some condoms. NOW.
It's nothing, Richard kept telling himself after he'd gotten home. His thoughts seemed disconnected, but really they were just constantly bombarded with images of Kory. He couldn't concentrate on anything. It had been a while since he'd slept with anyone, and he was just feeling restless, he reasoned. There was no reason that Kory was anything more than any other girl. No reason that he needed to be with her any more than anybody else. A cold beer and an easy girl, that's what he needed. And he knew the perfect place to get both.
"I will not!"
Kory had gone immediately to Koma's apartment, where her sister was in the bathroom, dolling herself up in anticipation of Richard's arrival. Koma wore a low-cut blouse and a high-hemmed skirt, perfect for her intended night.
"Yes you will. Or did you forget? You owe me whatever I ask for, sister dear," Koma replied snidely, not even glancing away from the mirror as she applied a thick layer of eyeliner.
"Not this."
Koma clamped the lid back on the eyeliner and whirled around to meet her sister's eye. "Why not? Too ashamed to buy any? Don't tell me you're one of those celibate-until-marriage freaks. That would be just like you."
"Sex is something you have with someone you love." Kory began the sentence strong, but then trailed off into a whisper as the realization dawned on her. "Do you love him?"
Koma smirked. "Maybe. And you know what? Maybe he loves me too. And where does that leave you?" The older girl laughed at her sister's broken-hearted expression. "I know all about your little crush on Dick. Gerdgel practically screamed it in my face, how you wouldn't let anyone lay a finger on him without breaking their damn nose. You're so stupid, Kory. Did you really think the richest, hottest guy on this campus would even give you the time of day? Honestly, when he's over here, we laugh about you and the dumb things you do. After all the sex, of course." Koma went back to her make-up, adding a couple of layers of mascara. "And here you are with no condoms. Well, I'm sure he keeps a couple on him."
Kory could feel tears welling up behind her eyes. She knew her feelings for Richard had been growing steadily ever since she first met him, but she hadn't truly realized the extent until this moment. Koma was right. How could she have been so deluded? She was nothing to him, no matter how much she cared for him.
She didn't bother replying to Koma, and rushed out of her apartment, almost running Richard over.
"Hey Kory, what are you-"
She brushed past him before he could see her face, and kept walking as fast as she could despite hearing him call out to her.
"What the hell was Kory here for?" Richard asked as Koma let him in.
"I just needed something. Asked her to get it for me. She didn't, that idiot." Koma settled on the couch and motioned for him to join her, but he went to her fridge and pulled out a drink instead. "Get me one too."
"What did you do to her?"
"Nothing! God damn, why do you care so much?" Richard handed Koma a can of beer and sat down next to her.
"Nevermind." I don't care, he told himself. I don't. I don't. But an uncomfortable feeling had settled in the pit of his stomach, and it grew when Koma put down her drink and started to kiss him, snaking her hands place he suddenly didn't want her to go.
He pulled back a little, and she glared at him. "What?"
"Nothing. Sorry." He went back to kissing her, trying to stop thinking that this was the wrong sister.